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ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk,""kintsukuroi," "Little and Broken, but Still Good," "Byzantine Perplexities," "Up the Water Spout," "The Life of the Dead," "If They Could Just Stay Little," "Anahata," "When the Wheels Come Off," "Against His Own Shield," "Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Building Towers," "Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations," "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day," "Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears," "Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques," "Coming in from the Cold: Thursday: Digging for Answers," "What Little Boys Are Made Of," "Rotten Fruit," "Trying to Find Prui," "Life in Quicktime," "Keep the Homefires Burning," "Their Old Familiar Carols Play," "Fluffy," "A Leg Up," and "Wabbit Season."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Betty Ross, JARVIS.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Drug Dealing, Canon-Typical Violence, Dexterity Impairment, Missions, Missions Gone Wrong, Bugs & Insects, Major Character Injury, Injury Recovery, Itching, Hurt/Comfort, Sleepiness.
Summary: A mission to shut down drugrunners in Brazil goes wrong. The Avengers fare pretty well against the drugrunners, but less well against the swarms of insects guarding the compound.
Notes: Food, Bathing/Washing, No Sex, Intimacy, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Herbalism, Massage, Friendship, Team as Family, Avengers Family, #coulsonlives.
Read Part 1, Part 2.
"Coming in from the Cold: Friday: Bug Hunt" Part 3
"Now what?" Natasha asked, although she sat down on the rim of the luxurious bathtub.
"JARVIS, voice mode -- what did Dr. Banner mean about an oatmeal bath?" Phil asked.
A spotlight pointed to a drawer near the shower. "Find the mason jar with the oatmeal bath powder. Use the one-quarter cup scoop to pour a measure into warm running bath water. Soak for twenty minutes to relieve itchy skin," JARVIS replied.
Phil started the bath running and waved a hand under the spigot to make sure the water was warm rather than hot. Then he added the oatmeal powder. The water turned milky, giving off the sweet fragrance of lavender and chamomile. "All right, get undressed, climb in, and soak for a while," he said. "I'm going to go check on Clint."
Bruce's bathroom looked nothing like Betty's. The whole thing was a wet room lined with tiles of warm brown stone. The shower area had a small stone tub for sitting and soaking, along with rainshower grills overhead and another bench along the wall with all the nozzles and grab bars. A cluster of tropical plants stood in the corner. Beyond that lay another, larger bathtub with fountains spurting into it and a couple of waterproof chairs beside it for lounging. The space was relaxing in a whole different way.
Bruce was sitting on the wide ledge of the main tub, holding onto Clint. "Oh good, I hoped you'd come in here," Bruce said when he saw Phil. "I gave Clint some antihistamines and now he's falling asleep on me."
"Yes, those usually make him drowsy," Phil said. "Do you want to hold him up, or wash him? He's all over mud in addition to the bug bites."
"I'll hold, you wash," Bruce said. "I gave him a quick rinse in the shower before I put him in the tub, but that's not enough to get all the jungle off him. Just be gentle with the bug bites, he scratched through a lot of them."
"I'll take care," Phil promised. He took off his shirt and sat down on the edge of the tub. Then he wet a washcloth and started tenderly blotting the dirt off of Clint's skin. Clint had gone pliant in the warm water, a definite improvement over the earlier whining. I hope he feels better, or at least less awful, Phil mused.
"How's Natasha doing?" Bruce asked.
"I set up the oatmeal bath for her and left her to it," Phil said. "I think she'll be fine. She doesn't have nearly as many bites as Clint. Could you send the recipe for your bath powder over to SHIELD? A lot of our agents are about as bad off as Clint, and some are worse."
"I don't know if they'll go for it, most of them don't understand herbal medicine very well, but it's worth a try," Bruce said. "JARVIS, voice mode -- send SHIELD medical the recipe for my oatmeal bath."
"Done," JARVIS said.
Eventually a bird call lilted through the air, and Bruce said, "That's the timer. Up and out, Clint."
The archer was half-asleep and floppy, but they managed to get him out of the tub.
"Put him on the shower bench so we can rinse him off," Bruce said, then used the handheld nozzle to wash away the few grains of oatmeal clinging to Clint's body. "Phil, your turn to prop him up."
"I've got him," Phil said. He held Clint steady while Bruce fetched a bottle of something greenish-brown.
"Oh, ugh, what is that?" Clint complained. "It smells like a swamp!"
"That would be because I made it from swamp plants," Bruce said as he dabbed it over Clint's skin. "It's mostly jewelweed and a few other things in a base of aloe vera."
"You managed to preserve jewelweed?" Clint said, giving Bruce a look of complete respect. "That stuff is amazing, but ... how? I didn't think it would keep, I've only ever used it fresh."
Bruce launched into a ramble that lasted as long as it took to coat Clint's body with the gel. Phil couldn't follow much of it, but he was glad that they had someone who could make all kinds of convenient things like this.
"Here, wrap him in this for now," Bruce said, handing Phil a terrycloth bathrobe. "I'm going to go throw some towels on the floor."
"What for?" Clint said.
"Massage helps the body to flush out toxins, including histamines," said Bruce. "It's another way to fix the bug bites."
"I don't think I'm up to that," Clint says. "I'm doing better, but my skin still feels like it's going to crawl off me."
"Don't worry, I can rub your back and affect your whole body," Bruce said as he picked up some towels. "You don't have bug bites on your back because your armor protected it."
The exposed areas of Clint had gotten the worst of it. His arms looked like a cobblestone road. Phil could tell that the swelling was already starting to go down, though. If massage would do more good on top of the antihistamines and the oatmeal, he was all for it. All they had to do was coax Clint into trying it.
* * *
Notes:
Here is a soothing oatmeal bath recipe for insect bites and other itchy skin conditions.
Bruce's bathroom includes rainshowers, a shower bench, a washing bathtub, and a soaking bathtub.
Jewelweed is a fantastic herbal treatment for itches. People have tried preserving it in many ways, and none of them seem to work as well as the fresh stuff. But the plant itself is very juicy, similar to aloe vera in that regard, so gel is a possibility.
Massage works great for flushing out histamines and toxins. Long, light strokes (effleurage) provide the most benefit without irritating sensitive tissues. One time we did a massage workshop at a campground and our door guard got eaten alive by mosquitoes, leaving silver dollar-sized welts. We offered a massage by way of apology -- and the next morning, the bites were no more than tiny pink flecks.
[To be concluded in Part 4 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Betty Ross, JARVIS.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Drug Dealing, Canon-Typical Violence, Dexterity Impairment, Missions, Missions Gone Wrong, Bugs & Insects, Major Character Injury, Injury Recovery, Itching, Hurt/Comfort, Sleepiness.
Summary: A mission to shut down drugrunners in Brazil goes wrong. The Avengers fare pretty well against the drugrunners, but less well against the swarms of insects guarding the compound.
Notes: Food, Bathing/Washing, No Sex, Intimacy, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Herbalism, Massage, Friendship, Team as Family, Avengers Family, #coulsonlives.
Read Part 1, Part 2.
"Coming in from the Cold: Friday: Bug Hunt" Part 3
"Now what?" Natasha asked, although she sat down on the rim of the luxurious bathtub.
"JARVIS, voice mode -- what did Dr. Banner mean about an oatmeal bath?" Phil asked.
A spotlight pointed to a drawer near the shower. "Find the mason jar with the oatmeal bath powder. Use the one-quarter cup scoop to pour a measure into warm running bath water. Soak for twenty minutes to relieve itchy skin," JARVIS replied.
Phil started the bath running and waved a hand under the spigot to make sure the water was warm rather than hot. Then he added the oatmeal powder. The water turned milky, giving off the sweet fragrance of lavender and chamomile. "All right, get undressed, climb in, and soak for a while," he said. "I'm going to go check on Clint."
Bruce's bathroom looked nothing like Betty's. The whole thing was a wet room lined with tiles of warm brown stone. The shower area had a small stone tub for sitting and soaking, along with rainshower grills overhead and another bench along the wall with all the nozzles and grab bars. A cluster of tropical plants stood in the corner. Beyond that lay another, larger bathtub with fountains spurting into it and a couple of waterproof chairs beside it for lounging. The space was relaxing in a whole different way.
Bruce was sitting on the wide ledge of the main tub, holding onto Clint. "Oh good, I hoped you'd come in here," Bruce said when he saw Phil. "I gave Clint some antihistamines and now he's falling asleep on me."
"Yes, those usually make him drowsy," Phil said. "Do you want to hold him up, or wash him? He's all over mud in addition to the bug bites."
"I'll hold, you wash," Bruce said. "I gave him a quick rinse in the shower before I put him in the tub, but that's not enough to get all the jungle off him. Just be gentle with the bug bites, he scratched through a lot of them."
"I'll take care," Phil promised. He took off his shirt and sat down on the edge of the tub. Then he wet a washcloth and started tenderly blotting the dirt off of Clint's skin. Clint had gone pliant in the warm water, a definite improvement over the earlier whining. I hope he feels better, or at least less awful, Phil mused.
"How's Natasha doing?" Bruce asked.
"I set up the oatmeal bath for her and left her to it," Phil said. "I think she'll be fine. She doesn't have nearly as many bites as Clint. Could you send the recipe for your bath powder over to SHIELD? A lot of our agents are about as bad off as Clint, and some are worse."
"I don't know if they'll go for it, most of them don't understand herbal medicine very well, but it's worth a try," Bruce said. "JARVIS, voice mode -- send SHIELD medical the recipe for my oatmeal bath."
"Done," JARVIS said.
Eventually a bird call lilted through the air, and Bruce said, "That's the timer. Up and out, Clint."
The archer was half-asleep and floppy, but they managed to get him out of the tub.
"Put him on the shower bench so we can rinse him off," Bruce said, then used the handheld nozzle to wash away the few grains of oatmeal clinging to Clint's body. "Phil, your turn to prop him up."
"I've got him," Phil said. He held Clint steady while Bruce fetched a bottle of something greenish-brown.
"Oh, ugh, what is that?" Clint complained. "It smells like a swamp!"
"That would be because I made it from swamp plants," Bruce said as he dabbed it over Clint's skin. "It's mostly jewelweed and a few other things in a base of aloe vera."
"You managed to preserve jewelweed?" Clint said, giving Bruce a look of complete respect. "That stuff is amazing, but ... how? I didn't think it would keep, I've only ever used it fresh."
Bruce launched into a ramble that lasted as long as it took to coat Clint's body with the gel. Phil couldn't follow much of it, but he was glad that they had someone who could make all kinds of convenient things like this.
"Here, wrap him in this for now," Bruce said, handing Phil a terrycloth bathrobe. "I'm going to go throw some towels on the floor."
"What for?" Clint said.
"Massage helps the body to flush out toxins, including histamines," said Bruce. "It's another way to fix the bug bites."
"I don't think I'm up to that," Clint says. "I'm doing better, but my skin still feels like it's going to crawl off me."
"Don't worry, I can rub your back and affect your whole body," Bruce said as he picked up some towels. "You don't have bug bites on your back because your armor protected it."
The exposed areas of Clint had gotten the worst of it. His arms looked like a cobblestone road. Phil could tell that the swelling was already starting to go down, though. If massage would do more good on top of the antihistamines and the oatmeal, he was all for it. All they had to do was coax Clint into trying it.
* * *
Notes:
Here is a soothing oatmeal bath recipe for insect bites and other itchy skin conditions.
Bruce's bathroom includes rainshowers, a shower bench, a washing bathtub, and a soaking bathtub.
Jewelweed is a fantastic herbal treatment for itches. People have tried preserving it in many ways, and none of them seem to work as well as the fresh stuff. But the plant itself is very juicy, similar to aloe vera in that regard, so gel is a possibility.
Massage works great for flushing out histamines and toxins. Long, light strokes (effleurage) provide the most benefit without irritating sensitive tissues. One time we did a massage workshop at a campground and our door guard got eaten alive by mosquitoes, leaving silver dollar-sized welts. We offered a massage by way of apology -- and the next morning, the bites were no more than tiny pink flecks.
[To be concluded in Part 4 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2018-12-27 08:54 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2018-12-27 09:01 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2018-12-27 09:55 am (UTC)People tend to forget there's more than just blood and blood vessels carrying fluids around our bodies.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2018-12-27 06:18 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2019-02-10 12:55 am (UTC)You flush the lymph nodes, all that shit goes into your system. You need to immediately power-flush that with lots of water, and maybe some milk thistle? (Liver support) Not sure what else, you might know better than me... Same goes for ordinary massage; I always down at least 8oz after a session, minimum.
You're doing something akin to getting a flu shot. It'll feel like crap, but once all that gets flushed, you'll be better.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2018-12-29 07:18 pm (UTC)bug bites.
Date: 2018-12-27 10:35 am (UTC)Re: bug bites.
Date: 2018-12-27 06:51 pm (UTC)Yeah, bug bites are awful and hives are worse. Our door watcher had big wide welts, rather than the tall kind of hives, but way more than the usual amount of swelling from bug bites. Next morning, all gone. It's worth a try by virtue of not requiring prescription meds.
Re: bug bites.
Date: 2018-12-28 12:25 am (UTC)hmmm
Date: 2018-12-27 12:23 pm (UTC)Re: hmmm
Date: 2018-12-27 06:33 pm (UTC)Notice that he's grumbling, not telling them to fuck off and leave him alone or disappearing into the vents, which is what he often does at SHIELD medical. Clint may not be comfortable yet, but he trusts them enough to take antihistamines that he knows will make him drowsy.
Re: hmmm
Date: 2018-12-27 10:55 pm (UTC)Re: hmmm
Date: 2018-12-27 11:10 pm (UTC)As it stands, they're in a situation that would not necessarily work for everyone, but does fit established boundaries for these characters. (Two men washing a third semi-coherent man? How many guys do you know would put up with that? But it is possible if they trust each other.)
Re: hmmm
Date: 2018-12-28 04:20 am (UTC)Re: hmmm
Date: 2018-12-28 04:57 am (UTC)Do instead of ask is something that most people learn later in a relationship. It's not good to try early on, before you know what the other people likes.
>> It feels rushed, and that always makes it seem rude to me. <<
That's possible. This installment is shorter than most of them.
>> But maybe there was a prior conversation with Clint before Phil came in. <<
There was. One thing they would've discussed, for instance, is whether Clint wanted antihistamines, and if so, now or later. That Clint not only agreed but wanted them immediately -- and therefore needed a spotter to keep him from falling asleep in the tub -- told Bruce that Clint felt pretty awful and was willing to accept help, even though Clint was in too bad a mood to be easygoing or appreciative.
>> And I don't like how Bruce just assumes the answer to a massage is a yes enough that he doesn't ask, and that when Clint says no, the answer still seems like a yes to Bruce. It is almost.....coercing.....or manipulation.....or maybe I'm reading it wrong and being stupid. <<
It's not stupid. This is one of those cases where you have to know the context behind both guys and their relationship. Clint has a really messed-up past and it makes him twedgy about accepting help. Sometimes he can be graceful about it, but a lot of times he grumbles. In this case, it's impaired consent. So Bruce and Phil wound up nudging Clint to accept help, because if they simply took the first no for an answer, without reminding him of better options, he'd be miserable.
Then consider that Bruce's own messed-up past makes him a bit of a nannyhammer. He doesn't always manage to be subtle when taking care of people.
Clint isn't thrilled with the situation, but it is preferable to scratching his skin off or spending the night in restraints so he couldn't do that, and putting up with Bruce's nudging is a lot more acceptable to Clint than putting up with SHIELD medical. It's still not fun. It will leave him better off in the morning.
And none of that is stuff that anyone has to feel comfortable with, because people's boundaries are in such different places.
If you want to see a more thorough negotiation, where Clint rules out some things, see "Touching Moments." The reason Bruce puts towels on the floor in the later piece is because he knows that Clint won't tolerate a massage table.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-12-27 12:48 pm (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2018-12-27 05:40 pm (UTC)Personally, I prefer blue for bathrooms. I don't have it here. But if I could design my own, I would do it in Penrose tiles of blue, green, and purple.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2018-12-27 07:47 pm (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-02-06 03:44 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-02-06 03:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-12-28 12:28 am (UTC)I'll have to try some sort of gel something when I have access to it again. Apparently it grows just about everywhere EXCEPT New Mexico. (Okay, not quite, but.)
Well ...
Date: 2018-12-28 02:36 am (UTC)I've only ever used jewelweed in its natural form. It does work for me. If I wanted to preserve it, I'd try squeezing it into aloe gel and see how much jewelweed is needed to have its intended effect.